By Grace Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: By Grace -------------------------------- Date: 9/29/2000 Keywords: "grace" "salvation" "works" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Romans 11:6* And if by grace, then [salvation] is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. Questions 1. What role does works play in salvation?   2. How do your failures with pornography affect your eternal life?   Practical help So you screwed up again. You logged on, flipped through or downloaded a pile of smut. Then your spiritual life took a predictable dip. "How could I let God down?" you wonder, as you skip another devotional time. You find yourself reading the paper instead of praying; why approach the holy Lord of the universe in your condition? Wait a minute. Why should looking at porn cause a "predictable" spiritual nadir? After all, what has changed? In the passage above, Paul writes that nothing can alter your ultimate spiritual state. You're still a child of God, bound for heaven — a sheep, not a goat. "But I'm a dirty sheep," you might say. In the largest sense, it doesn't matter. God loves you regardless of your actions. If he didn't, "grace would no longer be grace." This reality calls for a different view of failure. Instead of allowing it to put distance between you and God, it can become a new source of intimacy. The love of God becomes more apparent — and sin becomes less enticing. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2000 by eXXit *Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version, © copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.